Sunday, October 09, 2005

Semi-ulu

K and I have been exploring this jungly bit near where we live for a possible location to place our own geocache. It's a good site: accessible by public transport, a short walk away from civilisation, yet far away enough that it's screened by trees (like the one above) and undergrowth. It's ulu, but with home comforts, if you know what I mean (also, the presence of good prata nearby is a definite advantage).

If the presence of good food and public access seems a bit too soft and easy, there's always sights like this dead frog to remind you that though you're not really in the woods, you're not quite out of them either.

K and I have been geocaching for more than a year now, and have found 10 caches, but have yet to set up one of our own, so it's about time we tried our hand at hide, rather than seek.

Post-scriptBy way of explanation: Geocaching is a sport where caches (usually tupperware boxes, but containers can vary in size) are hidden in secret locations, and the co-ordinates to find them posted on a website (this one here: geocaching.com). A GPS is needed, since the co-ordinates are in longitude and latitutde. Sometimes little trinkets and toys are hidden in the caches for people to find, but most of the fun lies in the finding. K and I have found a few so far (see here, here, and here) but there's lots more lurking around in Singapore to find. You can also release Travel Bugs, which are little dog-tag like items that people can move from cache to cache: K and I made a pair of travel bugs themed after the movie Before Sunrise - one of the bugs is named Jesse, and the other Celine. Jesse was released in Canada earlier this year, and has travelled 1460 miles, as far as Utah, while Celine is still in Singapore the last I checked. The aim is to get them both to Vienna, though it looks to take a long time, judging by how they're moving.

(Shit. I just realised I could've saved myself a lot of typing by just linking off to wikipedia here)